Officer Shot at Congressional Baseball Practice Throws First Pitch at Women's Game

Shawna Thomas, the D.C. bureau chief for Vice News, said the game provided members of the press corps with a fun distraction from the daily challenges of reporting in Washington.

After her first pitch fell short of the plate, Griner asked and was given the opportunity for a do-over.

Crystal Griner, a police officer who was injured in the shooting and remains in a wheelchair, threw the first pitch at Wednesday's game. The journalists prevailed 2-1 in a closely fought match; the legislators left the tying run on third base in the final inning. Shelley Moore-Capito, R-W.Va. "We ought to do more of it". In 2010, the team invited women of the press to join, according to the game's website. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Reps.

Florida Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz played on the Congressional team. Tamara Keith of NPR was named MVP of the press team.

Griner and David Bailey were the two officers who were injured in the shooting as they protected Steve Scalise and the other members of Congress at the field.

The practice was almost over when the gunman, a disgruntled former home inspector from IL who lived in a van parked at the YMCA across the street, opened fire on two dozen Republican congressman and staffers gathered at the Eugene Simpson Park Stadium in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, about 10 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. The attacker was wounded in a shootout with Capitol Hill police at the field and later died. The game sold almost 25,000 tickets and raised more than $1.5 million for three charities in the Washington area.

The Congressional Women's Softball Game organizing committee announced in May it had already raised more than $200,000, breaking a fundraising record early on.